If a golden doesn't like to fetch or will only fetch occasionally does that mean the dog was bred poorly? I'm just curious because goldens are supposed to be retrievers, it's in the name! I've seen so many labs and goldens that just live to fetch and their owners say they've always been like that. My guy just isn't one of those. I'm just curious.

I think it may depend on the dog and/or the location. With Max, if we are at the beach, or at the lake, he will fetch/retrieve for what seems like forever. Also, he brings the ball or float back and drops it at my feet and is ready to go again. I always stop before he does.

In the backyard with a tennis ball, he will fetch it a few times, and stop and lay down with the ball. It also becomes a game about whether he will give the ball back.

Goldens were bred to retrieve birds in a water environment I believe. Probably not tennis balls.

my female occasionally will fetch a tennis ball in the backyard and very rarely brings it back but if she's fetching in water she brings it back and drops it at my feet every time. my male no matter where we are if I'm throwing a tennis ball he will go get it and immediately bring it back to me and drop it at my feet.

I always say Max should have been named Benson - the butler on the old show Soap, who when the doorbell would ring, would look around and say, "You want me to get that?" I throw the ball, he looks at me.

Actually, he's gotten more interested as he's gotten older, so it may also be something that isn't ingrained but needs to be trained.

My guess is there's a stronger fetch drive for field-bred dogs, as opposed to conformation dogs, but I've seen both with not very much inclination to fetch.

My Ella will occassionally fetch, but her favorite pasttime is to chase other dogs that are fetching.

Personally, I don't think poor breeding has anything to do with it, and I don't even think that a lack of desire to fetch a ball has correllation to hunting drive, because a tennis ball is not a dead bird. I think every dog is different.

__________________
-Tim

"The gift which I am sending you is called a dog, and is in fact the most precious and valuable possession of mankind." (Theodorus Gaza)

The Following User Says Thank You to goldentemperment For This Useful Post:

Rookie wasn't overly interested in playing fetch until he was well over a year old. And even then, he'd be happy to chase a ball a few times but would eventually get bored. And then I bought one of the orange chuck it balls and he has become completely obsessed. He would happily play fetch until he dropped if I let him. When we're at the park, I have to actually put the ball away out of sight to get him to drink some water. He's happy to play fetch with other balls, but the orange ball is something else entirely.

Both of my guys would play fetch all day long with anything...toy, ball, bumper, whatever.
My parents' golden, who is also Fisher's son, never was big into playing fetch. You could get him to half-heartedly fetch a ball maybe 2-3 times before he would wander off and eat grass. That is, until we actually took him field training. He went crazy. He whines and shakes with excitement and would fetch the bumper or bird ALL DAY LONG. In the more formal/training setting he lives for it, but at home, nah no thanks. Dogs are weird

Sometimes it has to do with the way they were raised. Ben was neglected, left alone outside all day with no interaction with people for his first three years. It has taken him a long time to learn to play with us, instead of just playing by himself. If a toy has a good squeaker, he will usually chase it a few times when we toss it, but usually he just gets it then goes over into a corner to toss it for himself, or to chew on it a bit. We can get him to bring it to us and drop it by doing a trade, but then he is more interested in the treats than in running after the toy again.

Bella would do it all day long in the house, but only a few times outside. She would much prefer to look for twigs to chew on, and sniff around for rabbit poop to eat. She would probably make a good tracking dog.